Skip to main content
UMass Collegiate M The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Search UMass.edu
College of Natural Sciences College of Natural Sciences

Main navigation

  • Academics
    Undergraduate programsGraduate programsCertificate programsFlexible and online learningAll academic programsCourses
    See all departments
    AdvisingStudent resourcesScholarshipsDegree requirementsCareer Center
  • Research
    Research centers & institutesUndergraduate researchGreenhousesIndustry partnershipsResearch supportCNS Bridge and Seed Funding (BSF) programScientific glassblowing laboratory
  • Campus & Outreach
    Diversity, Equity & InclusionOffice of Student Success & DiversityEureka!Community ConnectionsGivingCenter for Agriculture, Food, and the EnvironmentUMass Extension
  • About
    NewsStoriesEventsPeopleMeet the leadershipBuildings and facilitiesContact
    Information for faculty & staffInformation for alumni

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. News

Ezra Markowitz and Co-Authors Help U.S. Government Understand How Climate Change Will Affect American Society

November 28, 2023 Research

Content

UMass Amherst's Holdsworth Building
UMass Amherst's Holdsworth Building
Image
The Fifth National Climate Assessment

The federal government recently released its fifth-annual National Climate Assessment (NCA5), the United States’ preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. The congressionally mandated report draws on the expertise of hundreds of the nation’s top scientists, thinkers and experts—including UMass Amherst’s own Ezra Markowitz, professor of environmental conservation.

“I was deeply honored to serve as one of the authors on the Social Systems and Justice chapter,” Markowitz says. “This was the first edition of the report to include a chapter like this, which reflects a growing and long-overdue recognition of the importance and centrality of the social sciences to understanding, characterizing and addressing the multifaceted threat that climate change poses to life on our planet.”

Markowitz and his chapter co-authors emphasize three key messages:

  • Social systems in the United States are changing the climate, and when the climate changes, its impacts are inequitably distributed by those same social systems throughout the U.S. “For example,” write the authors, “Black and BIPOC individuals and communities, members of low-income households, immigrants with limited English proficiency, unhoused individuals, rural communities, and agricultural workers are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and climate change.”
  • People’s histories, educations, cultures, and ethics determine how they understand and experience climate change, all of which leads to diverse approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation. Including community perspectives and multiple forms of knowledge in climate discussions and decision-making helps promote justice.
  • Climate justice is possible if processes like migration and energy transitions are equitable.

“What’s clear from the report is that climate change is not just a technical, engineering, or scientific problem,” Markowitz says. “It is fundamentally a problem of human decision-making. But that also means we can choose—individually and collectively—to build a more just and equitable climate future for all.”

The complete report can be found here.


This story was originally published by the UMass News Office.

Article posted in Research for Faculty and Public

Related programs

  • Ecology and Environmental Sustainability

Related departments

  • Environmental Conservation

Site footer

College of Natural Sciences
  • X
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Find us on YouTube
  • Find us on LinkedIn
  • Find us on Instagram
Address

101 Stockbridge Hall
80 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9248
United States

Phone number
(413) 545-2766

Info for...

  • Current students
  • Faculty and staff
  • Alumni

Academics

  • Explore our programs
  • Departments

The college

  • About CNS
  • News
  • Events

Contact

  • Contact CNS
  • Directory

Global footer

  • ©2025 University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Site policies
  • Privacy
  • Non-discrimination notice
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of use